Tag Archive: The Rock

Well, not really. But Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has taken over the box office world. You think I’m kidding? EW pointed this out: Take a look at the last 16 weeks. There has been a movie starring Johnson in the top 10 every week since Feb. 22. It started with “Snitch” and most recently continued with “Fast and Furious 6”, which co-stars Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Luke Evans and more:

His last three movies have reached No. one at the box office for its opening weekend and combined, his 2013 movies have earned $956 million. And I thought Channing Tatum had a good 2012. This puts that to shame. Also, Johnson hosts the TNT show “The Hero”.

“Fast Five” starring Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and more was one of 2011’s surprise hits. “Fast and Furious 6” promises to push the envelope even further. Justin Lin, however, stepped down as director for “Fast and Furious 7”. Now producer Neal Moritz talked about new director James Wan, who fans will know as the helmer of “Saw” and “Insidious”.

“(He’s) a terrific, terrific director at the top, top of his genre. He’s done everything you could do in the genre he’s been working in, and as he said to me the other day, everything he has trained himself within that genre has been so he could take the next step up into something like Fast & Furious… I’ve always been a fan of his, he’s one of the people that we initially had on our list as a possible replacement, but I can just tell you when he came in and told us what his vision was, when he left the room we all looked at each other and said ‘That’s our director,” Moitz said.

Moritz also confirmed that Johnson will be in the seventh film. No word on whether that Jason Statham rumor is true, though.

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has been a busy guy. He’s starred in family films like “Journey 2 The Mysterious Island”. He’s been in “Fast Five”, the upcoming “Fast and Furious 6” and maybe his own spin off film as Luke Hobbs. He’s in “G.I. Joe: Retaliation”. Noticing a trend? He’s taken a lot of franchises and a lot of them have done well after he’s joined. In an interview with Cinema Blend, Johnson shared which franchise he’d like to join, if possible. Here’s his answer:

“Oh easily. Star Wars. And that’s not to say that they need it. Obviously they’re doing very well. And J.J. [Abrams] is just gonna crush it. I’m so excited. There’s a guy, by the way, who’s not just a brilliant director, but honors and respects mythology. You’ve seen that with Star Trek and you’re going to see that with Star Wars. I’m very excited about that.”

Abrams is of course busy preparing for the release of “Star Trek Into Darkness” starring Chris Pine and more. But it could be interesting to see Johnson in some alien makeup or perhaps as a bounty hunter in the new films. I’ve, surprisingly, grown to enjoy a lot of Johnson’s movies, even the recent “Snitch”.

“A Good Day to Die Hard”, which once again stars Bruce Willis, is about to hit theaters. And while “Live Free or Die Hard” was a financial hit, could this installment be in some big trouble? Normally I’d say no. It’s an iconic franchise whose popularity hasn’t waned. And yet, in the wake of Sylvester Stallone’s “Bullet to the Head” and Arnold Schwarzenegger’s “The Last Stand” both tanking, one has to wonder: Are audiences fed up with aging action stars?

I know that “The Expendables” and “The Expendables 2” were both successful. But even the sequel, though it earned $85 million, was quite a bit off from the first film. And as Arnold and Sly showed, perhaps action stars who are older making quips about their age are just not the way to go these days. The one exception to this rule seems to be Liam Neeson with hits like “Taken”. But if you think about it, Neeson doesn’t bring up his age in any of his films. And we accept him in his role, I think, because we can see him as an experienced person who has acquired a lot of skills through the years.

This leads me to “A Good Day to Die Hard”. Willis is an action star, there’s no question. But bringing in a younger character usually doesn’t work out in a series. And frankly, Willis is getting up there in age, almost to the point where audiences think, really? He can still do all that? It also doesn’t help that the films are essentially live action cartoons these days. At least “Taken” worked as a believable thriller to a degree. After three straight action film bombs, one has to wonder if the new Die Hard film will suffer a similar fate? With younger action stars like Vin Diesel and the Rock and even Channing Tatum to a degree heating up the screen and comic book films still dominating the box office every year, perhaps the old model of a straight up action flick with a big name just doesn’t sell anymore. People don’t want to see forgettable films like that anymore. They want an experience, something big, bold and grand and with actors that people don’t think should be thinking about social security instead of kicking some butt.

The true test of whether audiences are growing tired of this will be with “A Good Day to Die Hard”. If it fails, or shows some significant signs of fatigue, it could be a big sign that audiences want more than just an aging star cracking age jokes and trying to be like they were in their 30s.

So far, details have been scarce about “Fast Six”. Now here’s the official plot synopsis and check out its Super Bowl commercial this Sunday!

Vin Diesel, Paul Walker and Dwayne Johnson lead the returning cast of all-stars as the global blockbuster franchise built on speed races to its next continent in Fast & Furious 6. Reuniting for their most high-stakes adventure yet, fan favorites Jordana Brewster, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Sung Kang, Gal Gadot, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges and Elsa Pataky are joined by badass series newcomers Luke Evans and Gina Carano.

Since Dom (Diesel) and Brian’s (Walker) Rio heist toppled a kingpin’s empire and left their crew with $100 million, our heroes have scattered across the globe. But their inability to return home and living forever on the lam have left their lives incomplete.

Meanwhile, Hobbs (Johnson) has been tracking an organization of lethally skilled mercenary drivers across 12 countries, whose mastermind (Evans) is aided by a ruthless second-in-command revealed to be the love Dom thought was dead, Letty (Rodriguez). The only way to stop the criminal outfit is to outmatch them at street level, so Hobbs asks Dom to assemble his elite team in London. Payment? Full pardons for all of them so they can return home and make their families whole again.

Yep. We’ve had numerous movies based on books (“Harry Potter”, “The Hunger Games”), movies based on short stories, movies based on TV shows (“Mission Impossible”), movies based on songs, but I’ve never, ever heard of this. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is in talks to produce and star a movie based on a DRAWING titled “Teddy Bears: Protecting Innocent Children from Monsters Under the Bed Since 1902.” So basically, this is going to be a more serious version of “Ted”? Actually, if it is going to be more of a serious, action oriented film, why not get Mark Wahlberg? Anyways, I digress. This seems to be something my high school teacher would give me as an assignment. You can check out the drawing here.

The upcoming live-action film “Hercules” will hit theaters Aug. 8, 2014. The film will be based on the comic series by Steve Moore and Cris Bolsin. The film will star Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Brett Ratner is directing.

I’ve never read the comics, but it appears the film is going more of the “300” route here.

Dwayne Johnson (“Fast Five”) has officially signed on for Brett Ratner’s “Hercules”. Based on a graphic novel, it will center around Hercules and his group who fights battles for money. He gets a higher calling when he defends Mount Olympus from an evil army.

Ratner’s at his best when he’s doing action-comedy (“Rush Hour”) so I’m a little worried he won’t be able to capture the more serious tone this film probably needs.

Director Ric Roman Waugh is bringing a movie about the BP oil spill to the big screen in “Deepwater Horizon”. The film will reportedly follow the people who worked on the deep sea rig leading up to the explosion and the dozens who fought to stay alive after things went sour.

It sounds like it could be a good film. But, the talent behind it makes me worried. Waugh, who worked with Dwayne Johnson on the upcoming film “Snitch” would be wise to choose different people. Producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura (“G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra”, “Transformers”) is helping while screenwriter Matthew Sand is tackling the script. Sand’s only credit? “Ninja Assassin”.

Dwayne Johnson (The Rock) has had quite a run as of late. “Fast Five” became the highest grossing in the series, “Journey 2 The Center of the Earth” outgrossed its predecessor and many are looking forward to “G.I. Joe: Retaliation”. Now, Johnson said he is being considered for the upcoming film “Lobo”. Brad Peyton is directing the film, which tells the story of a bounty hunter who, as a nearly indestructible anti-hero, drives a space-faring motorcycle across the cosmos in search of his next target.

Not sure I understand this choice. Warner Brothers and DC Comics have plenty of other more well known characters…but this is the one you’re going to announce?